CATEGORIES

INGREDIENTS

25g bean thread vermicelli, soaked in cold water and cut into 1″/2.5cm lengths

200g lean minced pork

3 spring onions, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced OR crushed

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely sliced

1/8 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

Pinch of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Make sure your baby squid are thoroughly defrosted before starting the recipe – their small bodies can be a little (actually, more than a little) irritating to navigate if not properly defrosted, and it also means you may be more likely to leave innards behind when cleaning them as they won’t come out as cleanly!

Take each baby squid and chop its head off at the base of the hood. Insert your finger (any of you thinking impure thoughts here can just stop – there was no other way of writing this!) into the hood and scoop out any and all gunk that you come across, making sure that you get every last bit. Also pull off all of the skin and the fins.

Make sure you RESERVE the tentacles by chopping them off the body, and finely dice them. Add them to a bowl with the rest of the stuffing ingredients.

Use your hand to make sure that all the stuffing ingredients are evenly mixed together (we don’t want any clumps of mince), then stuff each squid hood, leaving about 1.5cm empty at the end. Carefully close the end with a toothpick and set aside.

Note: Make sure that when you’re stuffing the squid, you don’t leave any air bubbles in the hood, or this can result in bursting squid and misshappen hoods :(

Once you’ve filled all the squid hoods, heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan (a well-seasoned cast iron job will be marvellous here, but any non-stick pan will do), and cook the stuffed squid over a medium flame, making sure to turn to ensure that they are evenly browned all over.

Once your squid is completely cooked (this is pork mince we’re working with so this is a must – I found that 15-20 minutes was enough cooking time for me as you also don’t want to overcook the squid), remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Once the squid has been drained, remove the toothpick from the open end and slice them in half diagonally before plating onto dishes and serve alongside some tomato sambal (the recipe for which can be found on my food blog!)

RECIPE BACKSTORY

A recipe I'd been wanting to try for awhile, I struck gold with a purchase of some baby squid from my fishmonger so I decided to try this heavenly pairing of Vietnamese stuffed squid with a Malaysian tomato sambal!